Broken high-level brake light lens - anyone else?

andy_l

Active Member
Dec 22, 2013
67
0
Evening all,

The high-level brake light lens has cracked clean through on my 63 plate FR where the washer nozzle is. Booked it into the dealers who said that there was no evidence of a manufacturing defect and therefore must have occurred due to 'outside influence'. As a result the repair fee was £73 which I declined.

Before I send an email to UK customer services, has anyone else seen this? There's no visible damage to the surrounding boot spoiler or evidence of a stone chip, but the edges of the lens do appear to be crazed. Perhaps due to thermal expansion?

Cheers,


Andy
 

andy_l

Active Member
Dec 22, 2013
67
0
A few pics of the lens

u2ajyva5.jpg


a9e2ugu7.jpg


e2e8uhyv.jpg


Cheers,


Andy
 

chrisRibiza

Active Member
Sep 27, 2007
1,194
51
Have a search, someone else had this a while ago and warranty was refused I think from memory.
 

jc_boc

Missing the CUPRA R!
Jul 18, 2008
9,304
7
Desborough
I think it's the guy in Mexico or Egypt or something like that. As above dealer did not cover under warranty.
 
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scrich7

Active Member
Oct 6, 2013
311
0
Bedford
If it bugs you enough I'd suggest just sourcing the part and fitting yourself, something like that should be fairly simple to do. I'd reckon that most of that £73 will be fitting, rather than parts?
 

andy_l

Active Member
Dec 22, 2013
67
0
It's a complete unit with LED's and washer nozzle. Didn't get a part-only price from the dealer, but where I can find it online, prices seem to be in the region of €50.

Certainly an option though.
 

JK1

Full Member
May 15, 2002
531
2
Bedford
Visit site
Have you raised it with Seat CS?

If it's a design fault it'll only get flagged of enough people complain.

I wonder if the washer jet nozzle expands in the heat faster than the break light and ends up splitting it.
 

metomurti

Active Member
Apr 26, 2013
123
0
Welcome to broken additional brake light owners club :)

1) My first light was broken. But they did not change it under warranty. They said someone tried to steal it and broke it. And my car would be the first car that the lamp would be changed. They did not know how to change. So I bought and changed myself using elsawin. It is very easy.

2) Second light was broken again 2 months before. They did not changed it under warranty again. Because I changed ti myself not at service.

3) I bought the third lamp. I uninstalled the broken light and gave the third lamp to them. They installed. Now they know the continuum. They did it with registration. So if it happens again they will change in under warranty.

In Turkey it costs 30 pound including fitting in Seat authorized service.
 

Seastormer

Cupra Leon VZ2 300/CBF1000
Apr 25, 2014
5,007
693
68
Edinburgh (Scotland)
Mine is still ok, but only had the car 3 weeks, suggest everyone keeps an eye on theirs, as if it's happening a lot then SEAT should be paying under warranty.
 

metomurti

Active Member
Apr 26, 2013
123
0
Mine is still ok, but only had the car 3 weeks, suggest everyone keeps an eye on theirs, as if it's happening a lot then SEAT should be paying under warranty.

Your car has a completely different designed third brake light. I researched it from elsawin. I don't think it will break like this.
 

andy_l

Active Member
Dec 22, 2013
67
0
Update on this - after contacting SEAT UK customer services they further confirmed that this is not covered under warranty due to brake lights being subject to external influence.

However, as goodwill and due to the age/mileage of the vehicle they did agree to replace the high-level brake light, with SEAT UK and the dealer picking up the cost.

So a good result in the end.

Cheers,


Andy
 

metomurti

Active Member
Apr 26, 2013
123
0
I have changed my additional brake light two times. I am using my third light. I changed it at the service 1 month before. From now on I have been using it everyday. Today I looked at it and saw that it began cracking again. There is only one result I think; faulty design and bad quality material. That is all.
 

andy_l

Active Member
Dec 22, 2013
67
0
I have changed my additional brake light two times. I am using my third light. I changed it at the service 1 month before. From now on I have been using it everyday. Today I looked at it and saw that it began cracking again. There is only one result I think; faulty design and bad quality material. That is all.

:( I hope this time they replace it free of charge. 3 times is a joke!
 

metomurti

Active Member
Apr 26, 2013
123
0
Currently on holiday in menorca and Europcar have 8 Leons in the car park, none have this problem and its bloody hot here !!!

This situation is not related to hot. If the rear washer jet is used often (min two times in a day), it begin cracking inside at the washer jet part of the lamp.
 

sootytorques

Active Member
Sep 9, 2013
260
1
Seeing how dusty rear of car is after just a day and how clean rear screen is I reckon rear wash gets a fair bit of use, but an interesting thread...i know my mk2 Octavia used to pop the washer pipe all the time !!! Clearly rear wash a VAG weak spot.
 
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